


Popcorn

by Pinescoops



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:34:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23874007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinescoops/pseuds/Pinescoops
Summary: Mabel worries about the future and the twins have a night watching a new episode of Ducktective.Barely any pinecest tbh.
Relationships: Dipper Pines/Mabel Pines
Kudos: 13





	Popcorn

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in November and twas my first foray into writing fanfiction. Not really a fan of how I wrote this one anymore, but I thought I'd post it here anyway for those that might like it.

As their 16th birthday was coming up on the horizon at a dizzying speed, Mabel couldn't help but, once again, be flooded with pessimistic thoughts of the future.

_Everything's changing. What if she's not ready? Everybody's growing up. Maturing. She likes things the way they are. Why can't things just stay the same? At least Dipper will stay, right? Right? No, of course he won't. He's going to grow up and explore the world for mysteries and stuff._

That last one scared her the most. She couldn't imagine life without her twin brother. How he's always there to comfort her when she's feeling down and to pick her up when she falls (figuratively speaking and quite literally).

Yeah, sure. Maybe crying into her sweater probably isn't going to make her feel any better, but that didn't stop her from trying.

Between the sounds of her crying and occasional sniffles, she could hear her door start creaking open slowly.

"Mabel?" her brother questioned with his head half peeking into the room.

"Mabel's not home right now. She's in sweater town." she managed to speak in a clear voice despite the fact she's drowning herself in her tears.

Dipper finally stepped fully into her room that was clearly _hers_. With pink walls and rainbow LEDs lining the tops of them. Cycling through their colors at a steady pace. A couple of Mabel's sweaters piling up on the floor and art supplies all over the place. It even smelled like her. Like a freshly baked vanilla cupcake. He made his way over to sit next to Mabel on her twin size bed.

"Well whenever she gets back can you leave her a message for me?" Dipper asked, playing along.

"I g-guess" she replied reluctantly. Choking a bit on her words.

"Tell her that her brobro loves her very much and wishes to help her out with what's bothering her." he spoke in a jokingly formal tone.

Mabel poked her head out of her purple sweater revealing her face covered in tears and her puffy eyes. She quickly adjusted her sweater and playfully punched her brother in his arm. "Shut up you big dork." She said in a playful yet slightly serious tone.

They shared a short chuckle and the smiles disappeared from their faces.

"What's wrong Mabes?" Dipper asked in his loving, caring, brotherly voice. He asked even though he already knew _exactly_ what was going through his twin's mind. This happens every year when summer starts coming to a close. She'll be upset for a week or two and be back to normal as if nothing happened.

"Oh, nothing to be worried about Dipdop." she started, "just your average-completely-normal teenage mood swings. Boys n' stuff." she attempted to calm Dipper down, but after she finished speaking she immediately knew he would instantly see through her lie.

Dipper just looked at her for a good 2 seconds and then spoke up, "I know you know I know that's not what this is about Mabes. You can talk to me about anything."

"I know.." her voice barely audible.

"I'll always be here for you Mabel." he said as he rubbed his hand along her back, trying to comfort her.

"Forever, ever, and always?" she questioned.

"Forever, ever, and always." Dipper assured her, "Awkward sibling hug?" He held out his arms.

"Awkward sibling hug" she answered, already halfway towards meeting him for the hug.

They held each other tightly and in sync pat each other on the back accompanied by an also synced "Pat pat" from their mouths. Then, they broke away from the hug and Dipper spoke up, " Hey, uh, the new Ducktective episode is supposed to be on tonight, if you're still down for it."

"Of course I am Dip" Mabel said, a lot cheerier than she was just 5 minutes ago.

\---------------------

Later that day, Mabel walked down the stairs into the living room to see her brother lying across the couch with a bag of potato chips lying next to him. A couple of them littered across the couch and floor.

"You know just because Mom and Dad aren't home doesn't mean you can make a mess." she mocked.

"Yeah, well I'll clean it up later." her brother claimed.

Dipper sat up and patted the couch next to him, gesturing her to sit next to him. Mabel sat down on the cushion next to him followed by a crunching sound right underneath her. She got up and lifted the couch cushion to reveal a crushed potato chip with another still intact not to far from the crushed one.

"How do you-" her words were cut off by Dipper's laughter. She couldn't help but chuckle a little at the situation. Dipper tried to compose himself to form a sentence but he only got a word or two out before continuing with laughter.

"A-alright I didn't do that on purpose." he finally managed to say, still a hint of laughter in his voice, "I guess I'll clean them up now."

"That'd be best" she agreed.

Dipper got up, put the bag on the coffee table, and started picking up each chip up with his right hand and piling them up onto his left. He got to the crushed chip and just swept it into his little chip pile on his hand.

As he started towards the kitchen to dispose of them, his sister called out to him, "while you're in the kitchen, get me a soda." she ordered while sitting back on the couch.

"Do your legs not work?" he asked as dumping the chip pile into the trash.

"No sir, they do not. Besides, you're already in the kitchen." She argued.

All Mabel heard next was a quiet grunt and the sound of the fridge opening.

_HUZZAH! Another win for lady Mabel!_

He came back with two cans of Pitt soda and handed one to her.

"Thank you kind sir" she said while popping the tab of the can, making that airy-soda-can noise that it does.

Dipper followed suit and popped his open, taking a swig and placing it on the coffee table.

He picked up the remote and switched to the channel that Ducktective was airing on in less than ten minutes.

"I'm making popcorn." he informed Mabel as he stood up and walked back over to the kitchen. Dipper opened up the pantry, grabbed a popcorn packet, and threw it into the microwave. While he waited for it to pop, he grabbed the sugar container. He didn't really like sugar on his popcorn, but Mabel would refuse to eat it if it was plain (or God forbid, ‼️salted‼️), so he just throws it in to please her. The microwave beeped and he pulled out the popcorn, poured it into a bowl, mixed it with some sugar, and was headed back to the living room.

Dipper plopped down on the couch and places the bowl of still hot popcorn between them. Instinctively, Mabel automatically grabbed a handful of it and poured it into her mouth. As she reached down for a second handful, Dipper blocked her hand, "Might want to save some for the show, don't you think?" he asked.

Mabel snapped out of whatever train of thought she was lost in then and quickly responded, "O-oh sorry I guess my dumb little brain was on autopilot and I-"

"Shhh, it's on." Dipper interrupted.

This was pretty much their routine on Friday nights. It gives them some sibling bonding time, not that they don't get plenty of that already, but more fun-times with your twin never hurt anybody. By Mabel Law, ditching out on Friday Night Twin Super Fun Times® is a serious offence and may be sentenced to life in cuddles and/or _jail_.

After some time had passed, the show went to commercials (darnit), prompting Dipper to go get another can of Pitt. Mabel reached into the bowl to stuff her face with more popcorn, only to be sadly disappointed by the feeling of scratching her nails on the bottom of the bowl and some, still very hot, unpopped kernels. She lightly sighed, a little upset about the lack of sugary popcorn going into her mouth. A commercial about fresh produce came on and, as if on cue, Waddles sprang out from his slumber and ran towards Mabel.

Their parents were hesitant to let Mabel keep the pig, seeing as 13 year olds aren't exactly the best at making decisions, especially about living things. They eventually let her after she proved to them she could take care of him. Her dad still doesn't want Waddles but he's learned to tolerate him over the years. He's also learned to put his shoes on shelves.

Mabel greeted her pig with kisses and hugs. Dipper walked back into the living room with an already half empty soda can.

"Somebody's up early." Dipper exclaimed sarcastically.

"You have no room to talk, Dip." Mabel argued, defending her pig's honor.

"At least I wake up while the sun's still out." he rebutted.

"Sometimes." she teased, sticking her tongue out at him in a playful manner.

"Yeah, well… I'm a busy man. What does Waddles do all day?" Dipper questioned.

"Be cute n' stuff." Mabel answered.

"Fair point." He said, finally giving up on trying to best his sister.

Ducktective came back on and they got comfortable once again. He laid on the couch with legs on the coffee table and she sat on the floor with Waddles since he wasn't allowed on the couch and didn't want him to feel lonely. Dipper focused on the mystery element of the show and tried to piece together the case before the characters did. Mabel, on the other hand, really liked seeing the animals doing human things and solving mysteries. What they both liked about the show is how much it reminded them of their summer up in Gravity Falls. They wish they could go up there again one day, but Grunkle Stan and Ford started going on expeditions around the world. Barely spending anytime at the shack anymore, if any at all. The shack was now run by Soos and his wife Melody and the twins' parents aren't just going to send them up the country to spend two months with someone they barely know. That's just common sense.

Once the case of the stolen library book was solved by Ducktective and his partner. It was revealed to have been the mailman. Dipper shouted out in frustration, "There's no way it was the mailman! Everything lead up to it being the old lady in the green dress! Why would a mailman even steal a book!" Mabel just zoned him out while playing with Waddles and humming a tune. Standing him up with his back hooves and moving him around as if he was dancing. Once Dipper's ranting started to quiet down, she started listening again and stopped humming.

"Maybe just a plot twist." Mabel suggested, trying to provide her brother with a different view on the episode's ending.

"That's the only logical explanation for it, I guess." Dipper said agreeingly.

Mabel yawned stretching her arms out into the air. "Alright brobro, I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"G'night Mabes" Dipper replied.

She picked up Waddles and walked upstairs to her room.

Dipper grabbed his and Mabel's empty soda cans and threw them into the trash. He picked up the rest of the mess they made during their little Ducktective watching session, and then went upstairs to his room for the night.

As he rested his back on the bed he almost immediately fell asleep with only the sound of his own breaths keeping him awake, but that didn't last long as he was out like a light not a minute later.

As Mabel laid down in her bed, she didn't have the same luck as her brother. Despite trying to suppress them, the thoughts from this morning started rising back up to the surface one by one. It was like… popcorn. She felt like a popcorn bag in the microwave. Each problem coming into light like a kernel popping. Tears started streaming down her face almost instantly. _Life isn't going to stay the same. People will leave you._ "N-no, shu-ut up-p stupid voice i-in m-my ha-head." Mabel sobbed into her pillow. _You'll be all alone._ She knew if she stayed in this figurative microwave for much longer, she'd either burn up in flames or everything inside will be charred. Mabel needed to get out of it.. now. She just didn't know how. _Even Dipper._ She can't open this microwave from the inside. She'll need someone from the outside to open the door and let her out.

_Dipper_

She climbed out of her bed with whatever strength she could muster and walked towards Dipper's room. She jiggled the doorknob. Yup, locked, of course it is. She weakly knocked on his door hoping for an answer. She didn't get one. _Is he already asleep?!_ She knocked again. This time harder. No response. _Dipper never falls asleep this fast!?_ She knocked again. This time she was practically throwing her arms at the door. No answer. _Not now Dipper! Please just wake up!_ "Dippper pleease waaakee u-u-uuuup!" hey voice cracking and breaking at any given chance. She knocked on his door again. Nothing. _Come on! Come on! Come on!_ She felt like she was going to explode. "DipPer!" she called barely able to form coherent words at this point. She weakly knocked on the door again. Almost no force put into it, as if she'd just given up then and there. No answer. She felt like just falling to the floor and letting the microwave disintegrate her into ash. Then she heard the door unlock. Dipper opened the door to see why she was making so much noise. "Mabel, what's with all the racke-" he was interrupted by Mabel throwing herself into his arms. She continued her crying, but now into her brother's warm shoulder. Which was _much_ more comforting than her already tear-soaked sweater. Dipper, still quite surprised to see her like this, just simply hugged her in return. His grip was tight, but not enough to cause discomfort. It was perfect.

"Shhhh, shhhhhh, it's okay Mabes, it's okay." he said with that caring brotherly voice she learned to love so so much.

"It is now." She said, her voice was muffled into his shirt. Even though she knew everything was going to be okay, she still couldn't stop crying. He pushed the open-button on the metaphorical microwave oven that was cooking her from the inside out.

They stayed like this for a couple minutes, until her crying eventually calmed down to an occasional sniffle here and there. Dipper released his firm grip and Mabel pulled away.  
"Could I, like if it's fine with you, can I like sleep in here with you for the night?" she asked nervously. She could feel her cheeks getting warm. _Are you blushing? So what if it's the first time you asked him to cuddle since, like, 3rd grade? He's still your twin brother. Of course he'll accept._

"Of course Mabes." he answered. Dipper started walking towards the closet and stepped inside.

"What you uh.. doin there Dip?" She asked, her voice still shaky.

"I'm changing my shirt, you uh… kinda got mine wet." He responded.

"Oh, uh.. I'm sorry bout that." Mabel apologized

Dipper quickly shut down her apology, "No no no, you're fine Mabes. This shirt was dirty anyways." He looked at what his sister was wearing. A purple sweater that's practically dripping tears, "I think you should get changed too, you're kind of uh.. drenched."

She nodded and walked off to her room to change.

A few minutes later, she returned, now wearing pink pajama pants and a white short sleeved shirt.

"What? Are all your sweaters dirty?" Dipper teased.

"Oh, so now I have to dress up for you, don't I?" she asked, "...and yes, they are."

He crawled into bed and gestured her to lay down.

"I promise there's no chips." He joked. Mabel responded by letting out a small giggle and a roll of her eyes. She crawled into the small bed next to him and wrapped her arm around his chest. All her popcorn was poured into a big ol' Dipper bowl. It was perfect. Well, almost. _It just needed some sugar._


End file.
